FAQ
- When (first) orbital flight? First integrated flight test occurred April 20, 2023. “The vehicle cleared the pad and beach as Starship climbed to an apogee of ~39 km over the Gulf of Mexico – the highest of any Starship to-date. The vehicle experienced multiple engines out during the flight test, lost altitude, and began to tumble. The flight termination system was commanded on both the booster and ship.”
- Where can I find streams of the launch? SpaceX Full Livestream. NASASpaceFlight Channel. Lab Padre Channel. Everyday Astronaut Channel.
- What’s happening next? SpaceX has assessed damage to Stage 0 and is implementing fixes and changes including a water deluge/pad protection/“shower head” system. No major repairs to key structures appear to be necessary.
- When is the next flight test? Just after flight, Elon stated they “Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.” On April 29, he reiterated this estimate in a Twitter Spaces Q&A (summarized here), saying “I’m glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small,” should “be repaired quickly,” and “From a pad standpoint, we are probably ready to launch in 6 to 8 weeks.” Requalifying the flight termination system (FTS) and the FAA post-incident review will likely require the longest time to complete. Musk reiterated the timeline on May 26, stating “Major launchpad upgrades should be complete in about a month, then another month of rocket testing on pad, then flight 2 of Starship.”
- Why no flame diverter/flame trench below the OLM? Musk tweeted on April 21: “3 months ago, we started building a massive water-cooled, steel plate to go under the launch mount. Wasn’t ready in time & we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag would make it through 1 launch.” Regarding a trench, note that the Starship on the OLM sits 2.5x higher off the ground than the Saturn V sat above the base of its flame trench, and the OLM has 6 exits vs. 2 on the Saturn V trench.
Quick Links
RAPTOR ROOST | LAB CAM | SAPPHIRE CAM | SENTINEL CAM | ROVER CAM | ROVER 2.0 CAM | PLEX CAM | NSF STARBASE
Starship Dev 47 | Starship Dev 46 | Starship Dev 45 | Starship Dev 44
Official Starship Update | r/SpaceX Update Thread
Status
Road Closures
| Type | Start (UTC) | End (UTC) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 2023-08-24 13:00:00 | 2023-08-25 01:00:00 | Cancelled |
| Alternative | 2023-08-25 14:00:00 | 2023-08-26 02:00:00 | Concluded |
| Alternative | 2023-08-28 13:00:00 | 2023-08-27 01:00:00 | Cancelled |
Up to date as of 2023-09-05
Vehicle Status
As of 2023-09-05
Follow Ring Watchers on Twitter and Discord for more.
| Ship | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| S20 | Rocket Garden | Retired | |
| S24 | Gulf of Mexico | Destroyed | Destroyed on during Flight Test 1 |
| S25 | Stacked on B9 | Spin Prime and Static Fire | |
| S26 | Rocket Garden | Cryo tested | |
| S27 | Rocket Garden | Scrapped | Common dome imploded |
| S28 | Engine Install Stand | Raptors installed | Previously tested at Masseys |
| S29 | High Bay | Under construction | Flap installation in progress |
| S30 | High Bay | Under construction | |
| S31 | High Bay | Under construction | |
| S32 | Build Site | Parts spotted | |
| S33 | Build Site | Parts spotted | |
| S34 | Build Site | Parts spotted |
| Booster | Location | Status | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-B7 & B8 | Scrapped or Retired | B4 is in the Rocket Garden, the rest are scrapped. | |
| B7 | Gulf of Mexico | Destroyed | Destroyed April 20th in Flight Test 1 |
| B9 | Launch mount | Hot-stage ring installed | Static fire (August 5th) |
| B10 | Megabay 1 | Cryo tested | |
| B11 | Rocket Garden | Resting | |
| B12 | Megabay 1 | Grid fins installed | |
| B13 | Build Site | Parts under construction | |
| B14 | Build Site | Parts under construction | |
| B15 | Build Site | Parts under construction |
Resources
- LabPadre Channel | NASASpaceFlight.com Channel
- NSF: Booster 7 + Ship X (likely 24) Updates Thread | Most Recent
- NSF: Boca Chica Production Updates Thread | Most recent
- NSF: Elon Starship tweet compilation | Most Recent
- SpaceX: Website Starship page | Starship Users Guide (2020, PDF)
- FAA: SpaceX Starship Project at the Boca Chica Launch Site
- FAA: Temporary Flight Restrictions NOTAM list
- FCC: Starship Orbital Demo detailed Exhibit - 0748-EX-ST-2021 application June 20 through December 20
- NASA: Starship Reentry Observation (Technical Report)
- Hwy 4 & Boca Chica Beach Closures (May not be available outside US)
- Production Progress Infographics by @RingWatchers
- Raptor 2 Tracker by @SpaceRhin0
- Acronym definitions by Decronym
- Everyday Astronaut: Starbase Tour with Elon Musk, Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
- Everyday Astronaut: 2022 Elon Musk Interviews, Starbase/Ship Updates | Launch Tower | Merlin Engine | Raptor Engine
According to Musk Sep 6, 2023 · 1:30 AM UTC, “Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval”.
But an Other Place comment from u/space_rocket_builder here was
I think they’ve asserted themself to be a good source, but I am not sure.
Another comment (someone else) asserted that the propellant farm has not been loaded yet, and that takes a lot of trucks.
I think right after the last static fire, u/space_rocket_builder correctly predicted the number of engines that were lit up and ran correctly, before we got an official statement. So at least, there is that.
I agree with other people regarding Musk’s statement about Starship readiness: he’s probably trying to pressure the FAA into giving a launch license as soon as possible. But that doesn’t mean SpaceX is actually ready to launch.
The FAA comment from him might also be to pressure the SpaceX team to finish the last little details that they know aren’t actually ready.